1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



self-sacrilicing bachelor plan. There was no 

 boasting at onr breakfast, for Mrs. B. seemed 

 to be in command, and the cookery was more 

 domestic and anti-eater. 



Catering is carried on extensively in IjOS An- 

 geles; but in our rural towns catering is in its 

 embryo condition. There's merely a plain sign, 

 "groceries," over the door, and inside there are 

 more babies and dirt than (eatables, 

 and you get a sudden desire to cater 

 somewhere else. 



INIr. B. still drives the horse that 

 has don<^ such good service in his 

 Arrowhead apiary. His city life 

 has not been very laborious, and 

 his ribs were covered with several 

 inches of adipose (the horse's ribs, 

 not Mr. H.'s). While helping Bro. 

 1{. harness, my previous experience 

 with mules had made me shy of 

 heels. I avoided that portion of the 

 horse: but Mr. B. quickly observed 

 it and remarked, " Don't be alarm- 

 ed. Prince never kicks. Why, a 

 dozen dogs may bark all around him — he won't 

 mind them." 



We had a pleasant ride through some of the 

 principal streets of the city; called upon 

 Messrs. Bennett, who are dealing in supplies; 

 also called upon G. G. Wickson & Co.^ who have 

 a full line of supplies from the " Home of the 

 Honey-bees." The Cowan extractor was ex- 

 amined and whirled, and we noted that the 

 prospect for a large sale of them in California 

 was good for the coming year. Messrs. Wick- 

 son's store, being at 221 South Broadway, near 

 the business center of the city, is something of 

 a rendezvous for bee-keepers when they come 

 to town, and there's always something apicul- 

 tural or agricultural to look at. 



Our rides and our walks were well occupied 

 in talks of bees, honey, and conventions, and 

 the future prospects of our industry. Itseemed 

 that the honey business was getting on well in 

 California, when our producers, like W. T. 

 Richardson, could report 64 tons of honey, and 

 a dozen more well toward it; and it was also 

 quite marked that there was no secret about it. 



The Rambh^r well remembers that, in his na- 

 tive State of New York, it was the practice and 

 the teaching of a number of tlie large producers 

 of lioni-y to suppress and keep secret the 

 amount of their honey-yields. The idea was, 

 if you have a good thing, hold fast to it, and 

 keep everybody else out. The p-lan works suc- 

 cessfully to drive people out; but a poor plan 

 by which to build up or settle a country. There 

 has been a question recently raised as to the 

 respective place California or New Yorkstiould 

 occupy in relation to honey production. If 

 New York wishes to make good its claim to the 

 greater amount, the honey-producers, notably of 

 Mohawk, should come out of their shell and 

 put their yields alongside ours: then there will 



be some chance to get at tln^ real amount for 

 the State. 



It occurs to the RambliT that the question 

 can be illustrated by the old-fashioned see-saw, 

 where the see is on the part of New York, for 

 they are elevated. Coggshall seems to b(! the 

 next man to conn! ov6r to us. The California 

 end hides nothing under a secret. Come over, 



gents, and enjoy the open-handed liberality of 

 our genial clime. There's room for 300,(X)0 

 more. 



After Mr. Brodbeck and I had enthused about 

 bees all over town we returned to South Los 

 Angeles; the big horse actually put on a 4.99 

 gait, and, when near home, joyfully kicked up 

 his heels « ia Vixen. No doubt there was an 

 understanding between horse and owner on pur- 

 pose to surprise the Ramblek. 



ALSIKE. 



CROSS BEES; COKKECT SPACING OF FRAMES. 



B\i M. W. Shephrrd. 



The article of M. M. Baldridge, " Does Alsike 

 Clover Pay?" should be answered yes; itmakes 

 better hay and pasture than do the red cLovers; 

 it furnishes a large amount of honey for the 

 bees to gather, and it does not winter-kill as 

 the red clover does. Its long fibrous roots hold 

 it in the ground when red clover will have no 

 root -hold at all. 



We should like to ask Dr. Miller if lie ever 

 killed a queen to gei rid of cross bees, and found 

 that the progeny of the new queen were crosser 

 than ever the others were. Also, is r not gen- 

 erally the case that, if a queen does not get fer- 

 tilized until she is ten or fifteen days old, her 

 progeny are cross and disagreeable to handle? 



On page 94 there is an article on " How to 

 Advertise Honey." The very best advertise- 

 ment is to sell nothing but what yon can put 

 your guarantee on first, last, and always. 

 Such advertising always has a tendency to 

 create a demand beyond the supply, while an 

 advertisement covering a wholepage would not 

 hold a good market for a poor article for any 

 length of time. 



